1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a unit for producing sterilized water. More specifically, the present invention relates to a unit for producing sterilized water that makes water into plasma ions by underwater discharge to generate anions capable of killing germs, viruses, bacteria, etc. living in the water and removing detergent remnants and pollutants, etc. present in the water. The present invention also relates to a cartridge comprising the unit, and a washing machine comprising the cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, air and soil pollution has become more serious. Under such circumstances, environmental diseases, such as allergic and atopic diseases, are highly prevalent. With the recent increasing interest in well-being, attention toward better health has been increasing gradually.
Tap water is mainly used as supply water for sanitary appliances, such as washing machines, bidets, dish washers and water purifiers. However, germs, viruses and bacteria living in tap water may have a bad influence on clothes, dishes or the human skin in contact with the tap water and may cause problems in terms of cleanliness and hygiene.
In attempts to solve such problems, there have been developed devices for sterilizing tap water and supplying the sterilized water. A known sterilized water producing apparatus comprises a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a diaphragm interposed between the two electrodes in which a mixture of water and brine as dilute physiological saline is electrolyzed into acidic sterilized water.
However, this apparatus is structurally complicated and incurs considerable costs in producing a sufficient amount of sterilized water per unit time, which hinder the widespread use of the apparatus.
Thus, there is a continuously increasing need for an apparatus that can produce sterilized water in a simple manner to ensure hygiene and safety of users and is easy to manufacture due to its simple structure.